Voting-machine



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet1A R. A. HART.

VOTING MACHINE.

NO. 586,031. Patented July 6,1897.

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No. 586,031. Patented July 6, 1897.

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VOTING MACHINE.

No. 586,031. Patented July 6,1897.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

w R A HART VOTING MACHINE.

Patented July 6, 1897.

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RUSSELL A. HART, OF BATTLE CREEK, MICHIGAN.

VOTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 586,031, dated July 6,1897.

Application filed November 2, 1895. Serial No. 567,775. (No model.)

T 0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RUSSELL A. HART, a citizen of the United States,residing at .Battle Creek, in the county of Calhoun, State of Michigan,have invented a new and useful Voting-Machine, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to that class of votin g-machines in which thekeys for the voters use are looked after the vote is tallied, to preventrepeating, and released to allow their use by the next voter by theswinging of the door of the closet in which the voter stands whenoperating the keys, and in which sliding cams are employed, attached tothe door and arranged to raise and lower the frames to which the lockingmeans is attached in locking and unlocking the keys.

One object of the invention is to facilitate the operation and preventthe door acting, unless it makes a full sweep, by the describedimprovements in the double sliding cams and means of attaching the sameto the door.

Another object is to prevent voting for the same candidate more thanonce, and also for the same officer in any other party, by means of aseries of eccentric locking-cams, as eX plained.

A further object is to improve the means whereby the whole ticket can bevoted by a single action of the voter.

Another object is to enable the voter to see that his vote is tallied,when he manipulates the key, by having a portion of the mechanism of thetally-box presented to his view.

Another object is to regulate the course of the voters by means of astile in a peculiar relation with the door of the voting-machine.

Other objects appear in the following de scription and claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a planof the machine, showing its arrangementin a room set apart for precinctelection purposes, a portion of the upper closure of the machine beingbroken away; Fig. 2, a sectional elevation on line B B in Fig. 1,looking from a point at the right; Fig. 3, a section on line C O in Fig.4, looking from a point to the right; Fig. 4:, enlarged details fromFig. 2,

showing the operation of one of the eccentric cams; Fig. 5, a sectionalelevation, enlarged, taken on line A A in Fig. 1, looking against thatside which is faced by the voters when they manipulate the voting-keys,the same being a View looking against Fig. 2 from a point at the left;Fig. 6, an enlarged perspective of broken details, looking from a pointnear the turnstile in Fig. 1 against that side of the machine whichwould be opposite to that shown in Fig. 5; Fig. 7, an enlarged view of avoting-key and connections in Fig. 2; Fig. 8, a section on line D D inFig. 7, looking from. a point at the left and the same as looking from apoint at the left of Fig. 2; Fig. 9, an enlarged broken plan of doorattachments in Fig. 6; and Fig. 10 is asectional elevation on line E Ein Fig. 9.

Referring to the parts of the drawings pointed out by numbers, 12 inFig. 1 is the rectangular closure of the machine, the same having aspace 13 in the rear of the machine proper and a passage-way 14 leadinginto said space, which is closed by a door 15.

In use the machine for convenience may be set in one corner of a room,as here shown. When thus used, the wall of the room might serve in lieuof the back closure of the machine, and, as shown, two partitions 16 and17 are fixed in the main room temporarily, so as to make an inspectorsroom 18, a room 19 for the voters, and a room 20, into which the voterspass after having voted.

Between the corner juncture of the partitions 16 and 17 and thecontiguous corner of the machine I place a stile 21, capable of turningonly in the direction indicated by the arro'W,so the voters pass fromroom 19 through the door 15, and after voting pass out into the room 20,so those who have voted cannot pass into the room among those who havenot voted.

The door 15 is hinged to the machine by means of an upright rod 22,which has bearings at the ends in the upper and lower closures 23 and 24of the machine. A ratchetlever 25, Figs. 1, 6, 9, and 10, is rigidlyattached to the lower end of the hinging-rod 22 and extends across abowed ratchet-bar 26, which has a series of upwardly-extending teeth orlugs 27 and an oblique overhanging arm 30 at each end, beneath which theends of the dog 28 pass when the door is swung to its limit in eitherdirection to open or close it. This dog 28 is hollowed in from the topand contains a weight-ball X, adapted to roll to the lowest end of thedog. Said dog is centrally pivoted at 29 to the ratchet-lever 25, Fig.10, in position to engage the ratchetteeth 27. lVhen one end of the dogruns under one of the arms 30, it tilts and the ballX rolls to that end,carrying it down and holding it down, so that the ratchet-lever can passover the ratchet-bar 26 in the opposite direction, but cannot be stoppedat any intermediate points between its end limits and swung in the otherdirection, since this is prevented by the then lowest end of the dogcatching against one of the ratchet-teeth 27, as at the right in Fig.10. Thus the door 15 has to make a full sweep-that is, it has to beentirel y opened or entirely closed before it can be swungin theopposite direetionfor which reason the voter with a disposition torepeat cannot manipulate the door when partly open to release keys hehas once used in voting for the purpose of using them again.

On the bottom or floor of the machine beneath the voting mechanism is adouble cam slide 31, held or guided by rollers 32, Figs. 1, 2, and 0.Only one end of the double camslides is shown in Fig. 6, the balancebeing broken away, while in Fig. 5 it is shown broken into, but Fig. 1shows it complete in plan view. A connecting-rod 31 is pivotallyattached to the double cam-slide 31 and the ratchet-lever 25.

Above the double cam-slide 31 are two parallel frames composed of theupright posts 35 and 36, one at each end of each frame, and of thelongitudinal slats 37, attached to the posts 36, Fig. 2, and oflongitudinal slats 38, attached to the posts 35, Figs. 2 and 6. Theseposts are shown dotted in Fig. 1. The lower ends of these posts areprovided with rollers to traverse the double cam-slide 31, as explainedbelow. Only one of the slats 38 is shown in Fig. 6 and none of the slats37, but it will of course be understood that a series of these slats areemployed in each frame, as in Fig. 2. These frames move in a verticalmannerby the means and for the purposes explained farther on.

'lransversely through the machine and adapted to play endwise thereinare a series of rows of keys 39 for the voters use, Figs. 1, 2, 6, 7,and 8. These keys have sliding bearings at one end in the slats 40 onthe voters side of the machine proper and at the other end in the wall410' at the other side, Fig. 2.

The slats a0 may be of the desired width, according to the number ofrows of keys and the size of the machine. The design is to have as manyrows of keys 39 as there are parties in the field and as many keys in arow as there are oificcs to fill on each ticket. I have shown four rowsto indicate four parties, but the number may vary. Ihave merely shown aseries of keys in each row to illustrate the idea without regard as towhat may be re quired in given instances.

Each key is provided with notches -l 2 in the upper edge just back ofthe slats 40. The vertically-movable frame,\vhich has the posts 36, isprovided with as many dogs 13 as there are keys, which dogs are adaptedto drop by gravity into a notch of its key 39 when said key is pushed inby the voter in the act of voting, thus preventing the key from beingdrawn out again by the voter for the purpose of operating the key againto repeat his vote. These dogs 43 are attached to the slats 37 byscrew-bolts 4-1, passed loosely through vertically-elongated slots insaid slats and screwed into the dogs, Fig. By this means each individualdog will drop by gravity into its respective notch 42, and when theframe to which the dogs are attached is raised by the cam-slide 31 theywill be raised out of their notches. This action takes place when thedoor 15 is swung open, as explained farther on. The othervertically-movable frame is provided with a series ofupwardly-projeeting wedges %5, Fig. (5, in position to pass back of pins-16, which pins project laterally from the keys 39 and thus force thekeys out again to theirnormal position,as before,beingoperated by thevoter. This action takes place just after the dogs have been raised outof the notches 42.

To make it clearer how this is accomplished,

referring to Figs. 1, 2, 5 and 6 it will be observed that the doublecam-slide 31 has two sets of inclined cam-surfaces a0 17, there beingtwo of said surfaces in aset, and those of one frame being a little inadvance of the others. Thus when the door 15 swings open and draws onthe double cam-slide the camsurfaces 47 will first act to raise theframe over them and release the dogs a3, and then the cam-surfaces t6following up act to raise the frame over them, which causes theinsertion of the wedges 4E5 back of the pins 46, and, as stated, forcesthe keys out again for the use of the next voter.

In Figs. 2 and 5 are shown cross-strips -18, to which are attached eachside of the posts of the vertically-movable frames guides O to saidposts, or any suitable plan' may be adopted.

Having shown how it is impossible for a voter to repeat his vote for thesame candidate, I will now describe the means whereby he is preventedfrom voting for a man for the same office on any other ticket. I provideas many eccentric cams t0 as there are rows of keys 39, arranged in themachine one over the other and between two fixed stops 50 and 51, Figs.2 and 4. These eccentric cams are pivotally attached at 52 to the endsof bars 53, which bars shut into a groove in the under side of the cams,Fig. 3, and are pivoted to a fixed support at 54:. A rod pivotallyconnccts the cams 19 with the keys 39. By this IIO means when one of thekeys 30 is pushed in in the act of voting, the eccentric cam for thiskey will be swung up, crowding against the other cams and fixed stopsand filling all the space between said fixed stops. To illustrate: Ifthe uppermost key were pushed in, the uppermost cam by rising on itspivot would crowd against the uppermost stop 50 and also against the camnext below the uppermostcam and thus fill all the space, so that noother puslrkey can be pushed in. If the intermediate keys are pushedinthat is, the keys between the uppermost and lowermost keys-theirparticular cam will crowd against the cam above and below it, and thustake up all the space. If the lowermost key be pushed in, its cam willcrowd against the lower stop 51 and against the cam above the lowermostcam and thus fill the space, and thus making it impossible for the voterto operate a like key in any other row of keys. Hence he cannot vote formore than one man for the same office on different tickets, and, asstated, he cannot pull the key out again and make room to push in someother key, forit is held locked by the dogs 43; but when the door 15 isswung open the keys are released and pushed out again, as stated, andhence the eccentric cams 59 are swung down again, ready for the nextvoter.

At 57 are as many pull-keys as there are tickets or parties representedby the construction, the same being four, as here shown, and havingslide-bearings in uprights 58, Figs. 2 and These keys are for use whenthe voter desires to vote a straight ticket. There is a rotatable shaft59 below each row of keys 39, Figs. 2, '7, and 8. This shaftis providedwith upwardly extending arms 60, which pass loosely between pins Z onthe side of the keys 39, Figs. 2 and 7, and it is also provided with adownwardly-extending arm 60', pivotally attached to the inner end of thepull-key 57. By pulling on one of said keys the shaft 59 is rotated andall of the push-keys of this row are pushed in. When the push-keys areoperated, the vote is tallied by a tally-box of any suitable design. Ilocate the tally-boxes (.51 back of an opening over the keys, whichopening is closed by a sliding glass 62, Fig. 7. When in this position,facing the voter, he can see that his manipulation of the keys count,since the boxes are provided with a little opening in front face,through which can be seen the movement of the ratchetwheels 65, Fig. 5.These boxes have a slidin g door 63, covering the tally-11 u mbers. Theratchet-wheels 65, Figs. 2 and 6, are operated by a hooked lever 66,attached to the pushkeys, or the keys might be made to pull.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is- I 1. In a votingmachine, the combination of puslrkeys for the voters use, said keys being provided with lock-notches and a lateral projection in the rearthereof, vertically-movable frames, one being provided with dogs adaptedto fall by gravity into said notches, the other being provided withupwardly-projectin g wedges adapted to crowd back of the lateralprojections of the keys and push them out when the frames are raised, adouble cam-slide adapted to raise said frames one in advance of theother, a hinged door, and means connecting the door with the camslide tocause the latter to operate and raise the frames when the door swings onits hinge, substantially as set forth.

2. In a voting-machine, the combination of push-keys for the voters use,said keys being provided with lock-notches and a lateral projection inthe rear thereof, vertically-movable fraines, one being provided withdogs adapted to fall by gravity into said notches, the other beingprovided with upwardly-projecting wedges adapted to crowd back of thelateral projections of the keys and push them out when the frames areraised, a double can1-' slide adapted to raise said frames one in adVance of the other, a hinged door, a ratchetbar, a lever having aratchet pivoted thereto, and adapted to tilt down at the ends, the samebeing hollo w and provided with a weightball adapted to hold the ends ofthe ratchet tilted down when the ratehet-lever makes its sweep duringthe swing of the door, and a rod pivotally connecting the lever andcam-slide, substantially as set forth.

3. In a voting-machine, the combination of the mrtically-movable frames,the votingkeys having the lock-notches, the dogs adapted to fall bygravity in said notches, a hinged door for entering the booth, a ratchetprovided with the overhanging end arms, a lever adapted to be swung bythe action of the door in swinging it on its hinges, and provided with apawl pivoted thereto in a manner to be tilted by its ends passingbeneath the overhanging arms of the ratchet, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a voting-machine, the combination of vertically-movable frameshaving rollers at each end at lower side, a double cam-slide having theinclined surfaces on each, those on one being in advance of those on theother, a hinged door provided with a lever, and a connecting-rodattached to said lever and cam-slide, substantially as set forth.

5. In a voting-machine, the combination of push-keys for the voters use,the eccentric cams and pivoted levers to which said cams are pivoted,stops between which the cams are located, and rods pivotally connectingthe push-keys and cams whereby the pushing in of one key prevents thepushing in of any other key, substantially as set forth.

6. In a voting-machine, the combination of the push-keys for the votersuse, said keys having the lock-notches and lateral projections in rearthereof, the vertically-movable frames one of them being provided withthe arms for operating the push-keys and a downwardly-projeeting armpivotally attached to the end of the pul1-key, substantially as setforth.

In testimony of the foregoing I have herennto subscribed my name in thepresence of two witnesses.

RUSSELL A.- HART.

Witnesses:

W. H. EDWARDS, W. H. SMITH.

